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The 27 document. Theocratic Democracy and the issue of Partisan Politics.
In my recent discussions with Exuberant Mammoth about the possibility of reform to the Tribunal system, he brought up the idea of improving the democratic participation of the citizenry by the development of rival political parties. At the time I felt uncomfortable with the idea but was unable to put into words what it was that bugged me about it. Whilst in theory I agree that Raptoria should strive towards democracy in the day or so since our discussions I have concluded that ideological political parties are incompatible with our position as a Theocratic Democracy. I will seek to explain my train of thought here so that the members of the Tribunal and possibly the general public may understand my reservations about this system. The first issue I wish to raise is possibly the most important. Raptoria from its very inception as a political entity has always been directly tied in with the Church Exuberant. The intertwined nature of Church and State in Raptoria has created a situation in which there is a single dominant ideology, namely that of Raptorism. The introduction of other ideologies into the political sphere is impossible as Raptoria already has a State Ideology and other ideologies would challenge the uniting role of Raptorism in the country. Were Raptoria to be similar to most modern nation states, with a clear divide between church and state, then there would be no issue with the introduction of other competing ideologies as people could hold political beliefs as well as religious ones. But this is not the case with our country, in a Theocracy the religious is political and the political is religious. Our state is our church, therefore any opposing ideology undermines the very fabric of our society. The second issue is that the Tribunal functions under a very similar system to that of the Cabinet of the UK. I say this because to the general public the Tribunal presents a collective face, decisions are made in the Tribunal and then presented to the rest of Raptoria as a united policy. With the introduction of divergent ideological schools within the Tribunal this “Collective Responsibility” would be lost as different factions would vie for control of the Tribunal and seek to undermine each other to expand their own political agenda. Finally, whilst the argument that it would lead to greater public participation in the politics of Raptoria is well founded, there are other less dangerous methods by which this can occur, i.e. expanding lower level democracy and creating a pseudo-civil service. In conclusion, Raptoria’s position as a Theocratic Democracy removes the possibility for the creation of a thriving party system as there is only one “true” ideology. The introduction of different ideological parties into the equation will undermine the “collective responsibility” of the Tribunal and lead to Hyper-Partisanship. And finally political participation can be expanded via less divisive methods. I hope that I have given a clear and concise explanation for why I believe that the introduction of Parties into Raptorian politics is a dangerous game. We are a theocracy so we must always accept that our political system can sadly only change gradually. -HIgh Inquisitor Terrapin. 27/5/17